


In The Cards

by Obsessivecompulsivereadr



Series: The Power of Tarot [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - This World Inverted (Shadowhunters TV), M/M, References to Homophobia, Tarot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-21 22:03:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9568742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessivecompulsivereadr/pseuds/Obsessivecompulsivereadr
Summary: Magnus wore cardigans and baggy slacks.  He owned two cats, and he lived in a home more suitable for an elderly mundane woman for a reason.  He was to remain boring and unsuitable for most associations with people.  He did not like attention, no matter how positive it might be.  He was to seem eccentric and weird.  Living a life focused on magic that was supposed to not exist.





	

**Author's Note:**

> About twenty years ago, I knew a lot more about Tarot than I do now. Once upon a time, I had my own deck, gifted to me by a friend. But it's been so long now that I don't even know if I could lay out a proper spread for a reading. So a lot of this is probably inaccurate because it's a mixture of memory and some quick googling. So my apologies if I get anything wrong with the presentation of the reading.

Magnus Bane led a very quiet life, in a mundane controlled world, and there was little he could do to change that.  This world was very different than the one he’d been born into, the decades of war long past and the future filled with the threat of even more isolation for himself and others of his kind.  Not that he was aware of many others of his kind.  

The warlocks who had survived the war centuries ago had witnessed the eventual extinction of shadowhunters and the divide that permanently protected mundanes from demons.  What lived on now were stories and fabrications that created what this mundane world had come to know as legends and myths.  

Most mundanes dreamed of the kind of excitement that had existed before the war.  The desire to have something important to fight for, to have a life’s purpose, had shown through in centuries of literature and art portraying a world very few knew had existed before the war.  None of the mundanes living now were even aware that a war had occurred.  It was a product of a culture that reinvented itself every century.  As those who had known died off, their stories were brushed off as unbelievable, the importance of their involvement dismissed as forgotten history.

Magnus was safe in this world.  Bored, but safe.  He had to reimagine himself every thirty or forty years, once he’d lived long enough to become conspicuous to the mundane world.  He never aged, so he was forced to become someone else eventually.  Those he’d loved had passed on, those who remembered him eventually gone.  Long enough for him to start anew and become whatever he wanted.  

He’d sold real estate, been a stylist, a writer, an inventor… really anything to alleviate the boredom of a life spent not fighting for much of anything.

Over the years, his ability to control magic had become dormant, and he’d missed that part of himself.  Some warlocks of this dimension had learned to use their magic for personal gain, becoming magicians and sleight of hand masters, and Magnus had taken a turn at that decades ago, long before he’d lost his ability to manipulate magic through a simple lack of use.  

His current business as a Tarot reader was more for his own enjoyment.  He liked helping people, and if they felt some comfort from his readings, whether it be due to their search for a place of belonging or for solace for the loss of a loved one, Magnus felt he’d at least done something positive during this brief part of his life.  

Most considered his skills non-existent, and yet they still came.  Because they wanted to believe.  They were among the mundanes that innately felt that their world was not as it should be.  

When the girl named Clary had entered his life and had helped him to wake his magic, he'd known it was for a purpose.  While she may have entered his world on a mission to save her own, she’d unlocked a need in him to return to finding a purpose in his world.  

He did not have demons to fight or evil to vanquish, at least not an evil comparable to the world this Clary lived in, but there was no doubt in his mind that he had a purpose.  

And that purpose was  _ not _ to date Alec Lightwood.  

Magnus took a deep breath and took a second look at his appointment list for the day.  

_ 9:00 am Reading: A. Lightwood, scheduled by phone _

How had the man even tracked him down?  The television ad that Magnus had been convinced to pay for?  He never managed to make it through a day without regretting that advertisement, but never more so than now.  

Alec Lightwood was a menace to Magnus’s quiet life.  

They’d met at the Institute’s Looking Glass party, during Magnus’s mission to help the Clary girl, and Magnus had met many people over the years who were both attracted to him and someone he was interested in, but yet none of them had the self-assured demeanor that Alec Lightwood seemed to have in spades.  

Alec had been interested enough in Magnus to grant him access to the party, and to suggest having a drink, and Magnus had been grateful for the distraction of assisting Clary.  It’s not that Magnus was not interested in Alec.  The man was extremely handsome and charming, though the cocky demeanor at times seemed a bit of a front for something else.  He could admit he was curious to get to know the man better, but it would be a decision that would never work out for him in the end.

Magnus just didn’t date.  He hadn’t dated in decades, and he didn’t plan to start again now.  

He’d gotten tired of the continuous losses of people he loved, and the restarting of his life, the relocating himself only to leave someone he loved behind.  He was unable to tell any of his past mundane relationships that he was a warlock who would never age alongside them.  So he’d had tough relationship endings that had left both his significant other and himself broken-hearted.  He’d lost some loves, both men and women, to the natural ending of their lives.  Others to betrayals of his feelings.  And even others to the two of them just falling out of love with each other and moving on.

It was easier if the people he chose to be with were other downworlders, people who’d been forced to live quietly among the mundanes centuries ago.  At least with a downworlder, he could be himself for a while.  

He could definitely not be himself with Alec Lightwood, and he knew that for sure.

But in about ten minutes, he would need to interact with the man again.  

He could not allow Alec to continue to be intrigued with Magnus because there was a reason for Magnus’s mundane existence.  

Magnus wore cardigans and baggy slacks.  He owned two cats, and he lived in a home more suitable for an elderly mundane woman  _ for a reason _ .  He was to remain boring and unsuitable for most associations with people.  He did not like attention, no matter how positive it might be.  He was to seem eccentric and weird.  Living a life focused on magic that was supposed to not exist.  

He lived in a world where it was safer for him to stay hidden, but for some reason it seemed impossible to stay hidden from Alec Lightwood.

His assistant, a minor warlock he’d taken under his wing a few years ago, came into the room with a smile on her face.  

“Yes, Dot?”  

“Your nine am is here.” Dot said.  “Should I take him into your reading room?”

“What are you smirking about?” Magnus huffed.  

“He’s just very attractive.  And he seems to be your type.  He was very flirty on the telephone when he scheduled his appointment.” Dot added with a wink.  

“I do not have a type,” Magnus replied.  “But even if I did, you’d be wrong.”  

“Oh, I don’t think so.  He’s very interesting.”  

Of course he was.  Magnus sighed.  “Show him to the room.  I’ll be there in a moment.”  

Dot smiled and stepped closer to him, “Magnus, he seems like a good person.  Maybe you could get to know him.”  

Magnus stopped and looked over at the concerned expression on her face.  She meant well, and she’d been trying to get him to let himself be happy ever since he’d met her.  He’d mentioned Alec to her after their initial meeting at the Institute, so when he’d called for an appointment, Dot had gushed about the romanticism behind that decision to find Magnus.

“Dot,” Magnus began, but she interrupted.

“Look, I’m not saying he’s the one.  But what’s the harm in flirting with him?  Getting to know him?  Maybe he’ll turn out to be worth it.”

That’s what Magnus was afraid of, if he were honest with himself.  

The ones who were worth it were the ones whose loss hurt the most.

 

 

“Hello, Mr. Lightwood,” Magnus stated as he entered the reading room.  “How may I be of assistance today?”  

It was his usual greeting for clients, but at Alec’s little smirk, Magnus couldn’t help but regret that he’d used those words.  Alec seemed to be someone who’d never gotten the memo on the inappropriateness of asking someone out in their place of work.  

Magnus ignored his gaze as he gestured for Alec to cut the deck and shuffle it.  Alec complied and then Magnus assisted him with choosing his cards for the spread.  

“So Mr. Bane,” Alec said as he got comfortable at the table in front of him.  “I hear that _you_ can be a lot of assistance to me.”   

Magnus rolled his eyes, “Mr. Lightwood, if you aren’t here for a reading…”

“Oh, I am.”  Alec gestured towards his table.  “Please,  _ read me _ .  I’m all yours.”

Magnus would have sighed in irritation if it weren’t for the fact that Alec’s charm was actually working on him.  He was almost disgusted with himself, if he were being honest.  Alec Lightwood was the epitome of the type of bold arrogance that usually set Magnus’s teeth on edge, and yet... Magnus liked it.  

He’d been without sex for too long.  That was the only logical explanation.  

Alec’s crooked smile was a distraction, and Magnus would give anything to avoid looking at it.  

The man was wearing a deep blue polo shirt and khakis, a set of bracelets on one arm, and a couple of rings on his fingers.  Magnus recognized them as being the same ones he’d worn the night of the party.  His black hair was tousled a bit, quite unlike the way he’d worn it that night.  It looked almost as if he’d done nothing with it once he’d woken up this morning.  

But he looked unfairly attractive.  And he seemed to know it.  

The self-assured smirk made Magnus want to shout,  _ “Why are you like this?” _

“Mr. Lightwood,” Magnus began.

“Please.  Call me Alec.  Mr. Lightwood is what my father is called.”  

“Alec,” Magnus conceded.  “Do you always flirt with men in their places of work?”

“Only when the man in question is the most attractive man I’ve met in years,” Alec replied smoothly.  

“Alec,” Magnus sat down across from him and began to lay out the Tarot cards, “Please sit.  I would prefer to keep this professional.  You are here for a reading.”  

“I think we both know that I’m really  _ not _ ,” Alec smirked.  “But I can wait.  It will definitely be worth it.”  

Magnus’s hand shook as he placed another Tarot card, and he glanced up to see that Alec’s beautiful light eyes had not missed that nervousness.

Magnus did not look up again as he laid the cards out in their familiar pattern.  Before he began to turn them over, he took a deep breath and met Alec’s gaze.   “Are you ready?” 

“Yes, but may I ask a question first?”  Alec grinned.

“Of course.”  

“What’s the likelihood that this reading will be good news for me?”  

“It’s likely to present as a mixture of some good aspects and some negative ones.”  

“So, if you pull the Lovers card, what might that mean for me?”  

Magnus sighed, “I’m going to assume you’re being serious, and answer you as such.  The Lovers card refers to relationships and choices.  It could mean potential.  It could mean a current love.  It could mean a connection like siblings because in some decks, it’s referred to as the Twins.”  

“Really?” Alec asked, and it appeared to be without any feigned interest.  

“Yes, really.  It doesn’t have to mean anything concrete at all.  It could mean that you’re ready to open yourself up to a relationship though there may not be anyone in your life at the moment.”  

“But it could also mean I’ve found someone, right?” Alec crossed his arms in front of him and then leaned on them.  

“Yes, it could.  But so could the King of Cups.  The card can refer to a literal man in your life.”  

“Interesting.  And what about the Magician?”  

Magnus stopped, his hand poised above one of the cards to begin turning them over.  

Why would Alec bring up the Magician card?  It signaled mysteries.  Tapping into potential.  Changes and transformations.  

“What about it?” Magnus asked.  

“I’d be interested in seeing if the Magician would make himself...  _ appear _ for me.”  

Magnus looked at him in disbelief, “Is everything you say designed to be a come on?”  

Alec laughed, “Well, I do try.”  

“Why do you try so hard at that?  Don’t people find it irritating?”

Magnus honestly wanted to know the answer to the question because he could not believe that a man as attractive as Alec couldn’t get dates without the excessive flirting and outrageous behavior.  

“A lot of people find me irritating,” Alec answered quietly.  “At least this way, I’m giving them reason.”  

Magnus sat back.  That sounded a little too much like a painful truth, if Magnus was not mistaken in his interpretation.  

“Some people respond better to honesty, you know.”  

“Do you?” Alec asked.  He looked almost hopeful.

Magnus dropped the remaining cards in his hand and walked away from the window to get his bearings.  A self-assured and annoying Alec Lightwood was someone he could handle.  An Alec Lightwood with some inner demons and a hopefulness that Magnus might be someone to him was an Alec that Magnus wasn’t sure he could deal with.  

“Yes,” he said softly as he looked out the window.  

He heard Alec stand, and he waited while the man joined him at the window.  

Alec turned to him, leaning his weight against the window’s frame and looked at Magnus.  

“The thing my family hates most about me is the fact that I’m gay.  I used to internalize it when I was younger, trying to be everything they wanted me to be.  But it never worked because the one thing they wanted me to be was straight.  So I figured that the best revenge would be for me to be as openly and annoyingly gay as possible.  So they’ll never forget.  They won’t ever accept it, but it’s okay.  Because I will  _ never _ let them forget I’m gay.”

Magnus watched as he spoke, and saw the sliver of disappointment in his eyes.  As much as he claimed to not care, his parents’ treatment of him affected him to his very core.  This was the side of Alec Lightwood that Magnus had suspected was there but had hoped to never see.

Because seeing this side of Alec made it harder to say no to him.  

“My family was toxic, too,” Magnus offered.  “For different reasons.”  

His parental issues were because of his magic and the fact that he’d been born a warlock, but he understood the underlying pain of not being accepted for who he was.  

“Okay, so you want honesty," Alec clapped a hand over his heart as he spoke.  "Here it is.  I’m a twenty-one-year old gay man who dates as much as possible to throw my gayness up in my parents’ faces.  I work in PR at the Institute, but I hate it.  I have one younger sister and one younger brother. My best friend is a guy I’ve known my entire life and is someone I consider another brother.  I am interested in you because you intrigue me.  You’re one of the most attractive men I’ve ever met, and you’re fascinating.  I want to know more about you.  Everything about you.  The good and the bad. I tracked you down because I can’t stop thinking about you.  So I asked for a reading, when all I really want is a chance.”  

“A chance?”  

“One date.  Drinks.  In a public setting.  No dinner so there’s no extra pressure on you.  And if you don’t want to have anything to do with me after that, then I’ll leave you alone.”  

“I rather doubt that,” Magnus smiled.  

“Okay,” Alec conceded with a slight blush to his cheeks.  “So I might ask for a second chance.  I like challenges, and you are definitely a challenge. And you’re right.  I don’t give up easily.  But when what I’d be giving up seems like it could be such a good thing, why would I even take that chance?”  

“Alec,” Magnus said softly.  “You hardly even know me.”  

“That’s what this date is supposed to fix, Magnus,” Alec smirked and stepped closer.  

His gaze made Magnus feel naked.  Like he was the one thing Alec had been looking for and had finally found.  It was disconcerting, and it made Magnus want to make decisions that would be bad for him in the long run.  

“Okay.  One date.”  

Alec’s smile, a real one rather than the seductive one he used when he was trying to get his way, brightened his face and Magnus felt his stomach flip in response.

He had a feeling that his man was going to be something to him.  Someone devastatingly important to him.  

“You won’t regret this.”

“I hope not,” Magnus said honestly.  “When?”  

“Tomorrow night?”

Magnus nodded.  

“May I have your number, so I don’t have to go through your charming assistant next time?”  

Magnus held out his hand and Alec slipped his cell phone into it.  Magnus entered his contact information and then texted himself so that he could save the number later.  “There you go.”  

“I will see you tomorrow night," Alec replied as he pocketed his phone.

Alec walked backwards as he left the room but suddenly stumbled against one of Magnus’s tables he mistakenly backed into on his way out.  He righted himself smoothly, but Magnus could see the blush forming on the tips of his ears.  

Magnus pressed his lips together in amusement.

“You start laughing at me, and I’ll come over there and kiss you before we’ve even had our first date,” Alec pointed at him in warning.  

“Oh no.  I hardly know how to handle such a threat,” Magnus rolled his eyes.

“Is that a challenge?” Alec stopped moving towards the door.

“Possibly,” Magnus replied.  

He watched as Alec stalked back over to him.  The man's eyes were alight with happiness and while those eyes were beautiful normally, the amusement in them at the moment was even more attractive.  Magnus felt all his previous concerns about this man dwindling away with each passing moment he spent in Alec’s company.  

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Alec warned softly.

“You are?” Magnus’s raised an eyebrow at him.  “Without even asking permission?  Tsk Tsk.”  

Alec grinned and grasped him by the lapels of his cardigan.  He pressed their lips together, and Magnus felt a warmth flare through his body.  Alec kissed him over and over, and Magnus was lost in the feelings he brought out, feelings that he’d thought were so dormant that they’d never see the light of day again.  When Alec pulled away, Magnus chased him a few centimeters, but then pulled back when he regained some of his sanity.  Alec kissed him one more time, and Magnus felt more off-center and aroused than he’d felt in years.  

Alec smirked at him when the kiss ended, “I told you.”  

“Told me what?”  Magnus cleared his throat as he opened his eyes.  

“That this would be good.”  

“We’ll see,” Magnus answered.  

“Yes, we will.  Have a good day, Magnus.  I will see you tomorrow night.”  

Magnus nodded and watched as the man left his reading room.  Alec Lightwood had a way of making all his reservations disappear, and the thought was unnerving.  Magnus brushed his fingers over his mouth and replayed the kiss in his mind.  It had been mind-numbingly good, but Magnus wasn’t sure if that was because it was Alec or because he hadn’t been kissed in such a long time.

What had he done?  He’d vowed not to do this anymore.  Promised himself that it wasn’t worth all the pain he’d inevitably suffer through.  

And yet, one kiss from Alec Lightwood, and Magnus was throwing out those promises for a date.  

One date.  

Part of him wanted to hope that life got in the way and either he or Alec would have to cancel for some reason or another.  But the other part of him, the part that still believed that love was in the cards for him, could admit that he would be disappointed if the date didn’t happen.

He walked over to the table and turned over the cards he’d laid out for the reading.  

He’d almost expected the Lovers to be the first card Alec had chosen, but it hadn’t been.  

Magnus knew that Tarot was more about tapping into the inner self and not about actually predicting the future.

The first one he turned over was the Fool.  A few cards down the spread found the Magician.  Then the King of Cups.  And even further along in the spread, the Lovers.  

Magnus swept the cards back into a deck and returned them to storage.  

He knew they could mean nothing.  That they probably meant nothing.  While Magnus was a warlock, it’s not like he believed in the power of Tarot. It was about the self and about finding meaning in things.  Associations with beliefs already inside the person.  Not about the future.  

Yet Magnus found himself wanting to believe, and perhaps that was the most curious thing of all.


End file.
